The BBC news service reports on research from Italy linking women’s smoking with a certain type of acne. Sounds wonderful.
The BBC news service reports on research from Italy linking women’s smoking with a certain type of acne. Sounds wonderful.
The Daily Mail reports that “a tobacco-based gel designed to beat the smoking ban is sparking controversy among health campaigners. ”
“NicoFix, which can be bought online and in a handful of shops in Britain, is billed as an alternative to smoking rather than a way of giving up. ”
“Smokers can get their fix by rubbing a portion of the gel, which contains one tenth of the tobacco in a cigarette, into their palms. ”
“Stocks of NicoFix have been rushed into shops, including Harrods and Selfridges, in time for the ban on smoking coming into force in England on July 1.” . . .
GTV of Canada reports in an article entitled Cigarette butts top list of discarded U.S. trash that “Smokers are littering shorelines and waterways worldwide with millions of cigarettes, and their filters topped the list of trash items culled during last year’s annual international coastal cleanup, according to a new report.” . . .
ITWire is carrying an article on radiation exposure from cigarettes:
“According to Greek scientist Constantin Papastefanou, the natural radiation in tobacco leaves is greater than the human-made radiation that fell on plant leaves near the Chernobyl disaster.
Constantin Papastefanou found that radium (Ra-226 and Ra-228) and polonium (Po-210), which are radionuclides (ionizing radiation) found naturally in tobacco leaves, is up to one thousand (1,000) times more radioactive than the artificially-made radionuclide cesium (Ce-137) found on plant leaves from the fallout of the Chernobyl nuclear accident, which occurred in 1986.” . . .
Pregnancy Crawler reports on a study from Obstetrics and Gynecology that indicates: "The use of nicotine substitutes (nicotine gum, patches or inhalers) during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy appears to slightly increase the risk of birth defects, according to a large study of pregnant women and their offspring. Dr. Maria M. Morales-Suarez-Varela, from the University of Valencia in Spain, and others interviewed 76,768 women between weeks 11 and 25 of pregnancy regarding their smoking habits and use of nicotine replacement products during the first 12 weeks."
Fox News has a suggestion for your New Year’s resolutions, well some of you… . "Eating a small amount of dark chocolate improves smokers’ artery function in hours, and a few squares a day may reduce the risk of hardening of the arteries."
An ounce a day folks, that’s all! Of course, it must be noted that it was Swiss chocolate… .
Another downside to passive smoking — the BBC offers the following: "Passive smoking increases the risk of one of the most common causes of blindness, a study has found. A Cambridge University team looked at the impact of smoking on age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the British Journal of Ophthalmology reported. Living with a smoker for five years doubled the risk of the disease and regular smoking tripled it, they found. Campaigners said it highlighted the need for an outright ban on smoking in enclosed public places and workplaces."
The Billings Gazette has an article on employment at Scotts/Miracle Gros: "The company that makes Scotts and Miracle Gro lawn and garden products is requiring its employees to quit smoking if they want to keep their jobs, the Associated Press reported Dec. 10. Officials at Scotts Miracle-Gro Co., of Marysville, Ohio, say they see the smoking policy and a new, $5-million fitness and medical facility as a way to cut down on health-insurance costs. “Why would we admit someone into this environment when they’re passing risk along to everyone else? Our view is we shouldn’t and we won’t,” said company chairman and CEO James Hagedorn. The company can legally fire smokers in 21 states. “We’re being as aggressive as the law will allow us, to keep our costs under control,” Hagedorn said."
The BBC reports "The World Health Organization has said it will no longer recruit people who smoke or otherwise use tobacco. The ban, which came into effect on Thursday, applies to any applicants who smoke and say they would continue to smoke, either daily or occasionally. Tobacco chewers and those who use snuff tobacco are also affected. The WHO said the decision was based on its position at the helm of the global campaign against smoking. Existing staff will be encouraged to quit. The UN agency, which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, employs some 2,400 people. "
Health Day News has an article on increased use of cigars among teenagers.
"The next time you walk by a group of teenagers surrounded by tobacco smoke, don’t assume they’re puffing away on Marlboros or Virginia Slims. A new report finds that adolescents –including girls — are turning to cigars in increasing numbers. Why would any teen want to take that risk? Because fashions have changed, said Cristine Delnevo, an associate professor of public health at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and co-author of a report in the December 2005 issue of the American Journal of Public Health. Because of celebrity-backed advertisements, “the cigar industry (has) successfully marketed their products to adult women and adolescents of both sexes,” she said. And there’s another factor: a variety of new cigar flavors — including grape, cinnamon and apple — are making them even more appealing. … "
And <cough> for those of you who care to know, a stogie is also a heavy boot. Nice picture, smoking a heavy boot… .